Today, 4/22, is Earth Day, and to celebrate, All Romance E-books is having a 50% rebate sale. Basically you pay full price, but you get half back in All Romance’s eBucks currency to use on anything in the store. Even better, All Romance pays the rebate money, so I get full royalties on anything you buy. It’s a great deal for everyone, so hop on over and take a look at my titles.

Right now Written In The Snow is on sale for $4.99, so that makes it only $2.50 after rebate! I promise you won’t find a better deal on this. Written In The Stars is also only $2 after rebate, so stop by and check it out.

I’ve been very busy with a number of projects this month. One is an M/M fantasy romance novella, complete at 18k. One is an F/F/M bisexual sci-fi erotic romance which clocked in at 50k, completing my Camp NaNoWriMo challenge in just 18 days. Finally, to round out the creative spree I’m on, I’m finishing up an M/M dragon shifter novella I started last November, which should be done at around 25k. I’m looking forward to polishing all these stories up and sending them out to publishers.

I know my reviews have suffered. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I’ve decided I won’t be reviewing any titles that come from a press I’ve signed a contract with. That seems like too much of a conflict of interest. I’m actually wondering if I should wrap up the reviews entirely. I don’t want to go into detail, but I’ve been the recipient of an annoying message from the sockpuppet of an author behaving badly after I DNF’d one of their works a few months ago. Sometimes it seems like too much hassle. I also don’t think people really read my reviews on the website. Let me know if you think I should continue. There are a lot of great reviewers out there who cover things in a way more timely manner than I can. Maybe I should try different content on this site, like excerpts of works in progress, blog posts about writing, etc. Let me know what you would like to see.

I really want to concentrate more on writing and editing. That needs to be my focus if I’m going to succeed. I love what I do and I hope to deliver a lot more this year for you guys. One novel release last year was just not enough. This year I have nothing for you yet, as Written In Stone is stuck in editing hell and I’m in limbo waiting to hear about some other stuff. I’m looking forward to hopefully delivering some good news soon, though.

A new f/f short is available at the Free Stories page! This one is too short to do an official ebook release, so I’m putting it online for your entertainment. Enjoy!

Memories In The MistRushing home to see her dying father, Vasira takes a shortcut through an uncharted valley. A monster lies in wait, however – guardian of a battleground known only in legends. Vasira must find common ground with the guardian if she is to pass – but it turns out they have more in common than they realize…
Genre: Fantasy
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1623

I’ve been meaning to write this list for a long time. Some of these webcomics are popular, some are not. I can guarantee that all of them are good in one way or another and deserve your support. Most of them are 18+, so proceed with that in mind.

I’d like to do a list of LBT webcomics, but I need some good tips on what to read. Email me your favorites at admin@victoriazagar.com and I’ll try them.

1. Starfighter. It’s been a while since I devoured the entire webcomic in one sitting and I haven’t yet gotten around to reading Chapter 3, but this comic about two space fighter pilots is one of my favorite M/M webcomics. The art style is moody and unique, with a sparse use of color, and the story is super hot!

2. Teahouse. Teahouse is the story of a fancy brothel in the country of Ivore following the lives of the courtesans who live there, as well as the lives of the people who seek them out. The first thing you’ll notice about Teahouse is the art. Teahouse is full color with some exquisite detail in the environments and character art. I’ve never seen such fine art in a free webcomic and I love the diverse cast of characters. I follow this one on a regular basis.

3. Elan Meets Rafa. I found this one purely by accident sometime last week and once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. After being disinherited by his father, Elan winds up in a seedy neighborhood where he’s hit by Rafa’s car while chasing his kitty Murakami who ran into the street. Rafa takes pity on Elan and offers him a place to stay, and the two become closer.

America’s “rust belt”, two men meet. Mark, an overmodest young carpenter, comes to the aid of Ben, an overconfident reporter for the city’s newspaper; soon Mark finds himself drawn into the crime and vice of local politics while simultaneously, unwillingly, falling in love with Ben. I fell in love with this webcomic after accidentally stumbling onto it about a year ago. The art is simplistic and the story is more sweet than sexy, but this is one of my favorites and I follow every update.

5. Artifice. I’ve been following Yaoi 911‘s webcomics for a long time now, but Artifice is definitely my favorite. It’s the story of Deacon, an android who is under investigation by a psychologist to find out why he rebelled against his mission. The reason lies in a man named Jeff, who gets under Deacon’s skin and brings out a more human side in him.

6. The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J and Amal. In the span of a single day, Amal calls off his arranged marriage, comes out to his conservative parents, promptly gets disowned, goes on a bender… and wakes up the next morning to find TJ, a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen. TJ claims that the two have made a drunken pact to drive all the way from Berkeley to Providence. As it happens, Amal promised his sister he’d be there for her graduation from Brown University. And TJ, well… TJ has his own reasons. The agreement is simple: Amal does the driving; TJ pays the way – but a 3500 mile journey leaves plenty of time for things to get complicated.A great road trip webcomic with interesting, well-developed characters. There’s a lot to read, but it’s well worth the time investment.

7. Grave Impressions. Though overseas the world may be condensed to right or wrong, punctuated by a hail of bullets, life on the homefront is a little more complicated, particularly for one aspiring detective and his close circle of friends. Fighting the normative tide in their personal and private lives, they must keep three simple rules in mind:Loose lips sink ships, conformity is key, and most of all, no one is who they appear to be.I haven’t spent much time with this one yet, but the premise is interesting and the art is well done.

8. Purpurea Noxa. Set in a secret world of darkness inhabited by vampires, werewolves and other creatures of the supernatural universe, this story focuses on two cities – Lucca and Pisa (located in Tuscany, Italy) – who are old enemies over past disagreements and frequently face-off in a series of predominantly bloody clashes. I’m not usually a big vampire fan, but what I’ve read of this webcomic so far has been exciting and hot.

9. Devoto: Music In Hell. This is the story of how the now-fallen Principality of Music, formerly an angel of decent reputation, was given an opportunity to provide inspiration for one working man desperately in need of a muse. Guys make out. A unique art style sets this one aside from the others. Some amazingly drawn sex scenes really stand out.

10. The Young Protectors. If you like gay superheroes, you’ll love The Young Protectors. Personally, I never cared for this one as much as Artifice, but I’m well behind with reading and need to catch up, so I might like it more now. This one doesn’t waste any time getting to the kissing, so if you need payoff right away this might be for you.

1. Work more consistently on Magic Man. It’s a great story that has a lot of potential. I’d like to actually finish it this year.

2. Reorganize this site. Things have become a mess. I need to organize pages better so people can find the content they want, including the free stories.

3. Finish editing work on Written In Stone and release it in Q1 of this year. What was a Culture Wars novel is now a novel in the New World Rising series. Basically I’m splitting the series in two – the Culture Wars series will continue to detail romances during the war, while the New World Rising series will talk about the politics leading up to the war. I’ll explain everything and post a detailed timeline of events when I have everything in place.

4. Rewrite promising old manuscripts. On my computer I have six or so completed novels, all needing massive amounts of work. My style has evolved over the years, and these works need some serious TLC to reach my standards. I want these books out, and so my resolution is to rewrite, thoroughly edit and release/submit to a publisher at least 2 of these this year.

5. Write another Culture Wars/New World Rising novel this year. I love these books. They mean a lot to me and I love working on them. I want to keep them coming on a regular basis.

6. Write at least two novels of 60,000 words or greater. I wrote two novels in 2013. There’s no reason I can’t keep up that pace.

7. Release at least one F/F novel or novella this year. I’ve concentrated on building my M/M fanbase so far, but I love F/F fiction and reject the notion some people have that it doesn’t sell. My free lesbian fiction consistently ranks up there with my free M/M fiction in terms of downloads, and I want to release a novel for all the people who love stories of two women in love.

8. Keep up with reviews and reduce wait times. As an author, I love to read, but I regret to admit that some of the lovely people who offered titles for review have had to wait several months for their reviews. I’ll try harder this year!

9. Get at least one novel published by a small press publisher.I love the control I have in self-publishing, but there are times I would love more help, especially with editing and cover design. I want my works to reach a wider audience, but finding the right publisher is key. I resolve that this will be the year I finally do it.

10. Listen to my readers. Your input has been key all along. Your feedback is crucial to Infinite Love. I strive to be approachable at all times, and I never respond negatively to honest opinions. I’m still learning a lot about this industry and my readers, but every comment and every review you make is heard. It’s my policy not to directly respond to criticism because I wouldn’t want my words to be misconstrued, but some of the more difficult reviews I’ve read have actually been the ones that improved my craft the most and challenged me to do better. I want to thank you all and wish you a Happy New Year.

So, I’ve been teaching myself some nifty image editing skills while I’m on vacation over the New Year, and I wanted to update a cover I’ve really never been very fond of: that of New World Rising. I really like the new cover and I’d love your feedback on it as well, as this is probably a basic style I’m going to stick with for future releases.

Without further ado, I present to you the new cover for New World Rising:

You may notice it now says “A New World Rising Story” instead of “A Culture Wars Story”. This is because I have a prequel series in the works that details the political climate leading up to the Culture Wars (along with some wonderful m/m romance of course!), and New World Rising is more in line with that series.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and a healthy, wealthy and wonderful 2014. Thanks for your support over what has been an emotionally challenging and life-changing year. I promise a greater number of releases next year now that I’ve found my feet. That’s my New Year’s resolution and you can hold me to that!

As you may know by now, author Eric Arvin is in the hospital, unable to breathe on his own. His fiancé T.J. Klune has been there for him the whole time, and The Crack Crew (a group of trusted authors and friends) have been working around the clock to ensure family and friends are with Eric.

Earlier this year, I reviewed Eric’s novel Woke Up In A Strange Place. It was an incredibly moving novel with vivid imagery I can still recall. I was very sad to discover that Eric will require brain surgery. I don’t know Eric or T.J. personally, but I can tell from their Facebook pages that they love each other very much. Both are talented authors in our small community and deserve our full support in this tough time. Eric’s recovery will no doubt be long and expensive.

If you have a little extra money this Xmas, The Crack Crew have set up a fund to help Eric and T.J. with expenses ranging from medical bills to hotel rooms and travel expenses for family members. Anything that you can give will help, and the money is being carefully managed by trusted people including T.J. himself.

If you’re not comfortable with a fundraising website, please consider buying Eric and T.J’s books at their publisher websites. Buying directly from their publisher gives them a larger share of the profits and supports their efforts while they recover and get their lives back on track.

A new chapter of Magic Man is now up! Chapter Seven, Hunters, is now available. I’ve started work on this novel again after a hiatus and plan to continue writing and posting new chapters whenever I have the time.

Images provided by FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you’ve yet to read Magic Man, you can access all the chapters at the main Magic Man page. It’s completely free, so what are you waiting for?

Kyle’s life is a mess. Ostracized by his parents for his sexuality and working for minimum wage, he’s at his wits’ end when he responds to a free ad promising room and board in exchange for learning the ancient art of magic. Meeting the mysterious witch Robert, Kyle is drawn into a whole new world that exists underneath the surface of this one: a world of magic, mystery and wonder that will challenge everything he’s ever known and believed.

We have some deals for you today (and you don’t need to stand outside in the cold to get them.) These deals are all good until December 3rd. Follow me at @landale on Twitter for more launch info on Written In The Snow tonight at midnight!